L'architecte
by ToriiStorii
Summary: Deebee just wanted to study in Paris for a while. Build some stuff with the school's laser cutter. She didn't plan on akumas. Ever. She really just wants to sleep thanks


**Shoutout to DB-KT for letting me use her as a trial run. Check out what she has posted :3**

* * *

Deebee stood, concentrating on her fabulous designs she was creating for her architecture class. She had spent hours working on them, making them look like the real buildings of Paris, and now they were finally being made, cut into chipboard. She hardly glanced up as a commotion sprung up behind her. It's not like she could understand what anyone was saying anyway. She hadn't been in this program long enough. At least not here in Paris anyway.

Suddenly a blonde head appeared next to own, making Deebee jump a little in surprise. The girl was young, no older than 15 probably, and was speaking French. Grimacing a little a the intrusion (and the annoying voice), she turned back to her work, intent on ignoring the jabbering. However it seemed the girl wouldn't take being ignored and jostled the college student before pointing at the laser cutter.

Sighing, Deebee turned to look at the girl. She appeared to be your stereotypical blonde: blue-eyed, skinny, and obviously self-absorbed, if the way she was staring at Deebee was any indication. "Look, I don't know what you want." Gesturing to the machine she continued, "That's a laser cutter if that's what you're asking." She wasn't even sure if this girl knew any English, but it seemed the best way to get rid of her.

Blinking, the girl said something else before sauntering off. Good.

* * *

It took a long time, but it was finally done. Her designs, fully constructed, ready to present. She was running on almost no sleep, which was not unusual, but at least this was out of the way. She sat with a groan, fully ready to just fall asleep there on the floor. She actually almost did when she heard a familiar voice. Oh...oh no, it was that annoying blonde girl again. Deebee stood hastily as the younger girl walked in. Why was she allowed to just wander where she pleased anyway?

The blonde stared at Deebee's disheveled appearance and made a remark, probably rude, and stepped over to examine the models of the Parisian buildings. Before Deebee could react (damn her slow reflexes and sleep-deprived mind!), she reached out to touch them, and before she knew it, the models collapsed. They both stared at the ruined project, then the girl shrugged, turned, and left.

Deebee stared at the mess. All that hard work, and it was all ruined because of some teenager who had decided she could walk anywhere and touch anything she wanted! She sank to the floor again and sniffed. She couldn't deal with this. She was tired, stressed, and now had to start over. She choked on her breath, her chest heaving. That...that _bitch_!

Staring blankly at the mess, she failed to notice the little black butterfly flutter into the room and land on her glasses. Immediately, her vision went dark. Had she fallen asleep? No... there was someone talking to her...in more French.

"W-What?" she whispered.

The voice paused, then sighed. " _I apologize Mlle. I did not realize you were American. My name is Papillion. How would you like to get the chance to repair your work, and keep that girl from destroying more hard work?"_

"I...I don't know. I'm just...really tired."

" _You'd be able to create works of art you'd never be able to create with just your school's machine."_

"That'd be cool…" Deebee mumbled.

" _I just need one thing from you in return: the Ladybug earrings and Black Cat ring."_

"Yeah...okay. I'll do it." Deebee got to her feet and let her body be enveloped by a thick black cloud. When it dissipated, one wouldn't have been able to guess that this was the same American college student.

Her outfit was a grey suit with red glowing lines trailing along the arms and legs. Her glasses had formed into a single lens spanning the width of her face, the glass dark. She stormed out of the room, searching, searching… There. "You!" she cried. The girl who had destroyed her work turned, her eyes huge.

"Akuma!" she shrieked.

"Yeah, akuma," the young woman formerly known as Deebee snarled. "My name is L'architecte. Who are you to walk around like you own the place and destroy other people's work?" she demanded, her French flawless.

The girl sniffed. "My name is Chloé Bourgeois. You must know that Ladybug and Chat Noir will defeat you, like they always do. Of course, you _are_ American, so you may not know how things work around here."

L'architecte tilted her head. "I think I know how things work well enough _Chloé Bourgeois_." She glanced around the room. "Yes, I know how things work very well." She looked up. The lens of her glasses glowed red before a laser shot out at a specific section of the roof. The room shuddered and cracks began to spread along the ceiling. "Don't worry, only the center of the roof will cave… I'd run if i were you."

Chloé wasn't dumb. She knew when exactly when to run. And so she did.

* * *

Marinette sat half-listening to Alya, who was going on about some new video edits she was excited to post on the Ladyblog. Apparently it was a compilation of all the different Lucky Charms Alya had managed to catch footage of thus far. "I wish I had video for the one she used to help beat me as Lady Wifi," Alya was saying. "I want to know what she used."

Marinette rolled her eyes behind Alya's back, then said, "I'm sure it was just like the rest of Ladybug's Lucky Charms: random and seemingly useless."

Alya glared at her best friend before looking down at her phone, which had started dinging. "Oh! There's an akuma! It's near some college…"

"Really?" Marinette squeaked. "O-oh, I just remembered, I need to get home, help at the bakery, you know, because that's our work…" At Alya's strange look, she jumped up and ran off, waving back. "Bye Alya!" she called.

She ran past a few buildings before ducking into an alley and opening her purse. "Come one Tikki, there's an akuma loose!" The kwami darted out and nodded firmly. "Tikki, spots on!"

A flash of pink and Ladybug was swinging over Paris. Landing on a roof, she paused. "Wait, which college was it?" She hadn't asked. Groaning, she flipped her yo-yo's screen out and searched the news. Oh, it was on the other side of the city. Go figure. Snapping her yo-yo closed, she lassoed a chimney across the street. She really hopes Chat has heard about the akuma by now too.

* * *

When she finally found the akuma, she found them...complaining? From what she could hear, they were going on about structural integrity and design flaws in the building they were in front of. As she was getting ready to launch herself at the akuma, she heard a clatter behind her and whirled around to find Chat Noir walking up to her. "Chat, what do you make of this?" She gestured at the street below.

He cocked his head, ears twitching to listen better. "They're a giant architecture fanatic?" he guessed. Then the akuma shot a laser at the building from their eyes, and where it hit, the building reformed to a new style. "Or they just really hated the facade of that building." He shrugged. "Let's find out, shall we Milady?" With that he hopped down from the roof. "Hey! I know that building was ugly, but I'm pretty sure that what you're doing is considered vandalism," he called out to the akuma.

They jumped and turned to face him. "The columns are impractical! An arch would have been better!"

Chat raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes!" Listening to the akuma speak, Ladybug figured they were female. A young woman… And the first reports were near a college. Oh jeez, an upset college student. Also her accent was weird. "Who are you to question me anyway?"

This threw Chat for a loop. "What? Don't you know about me? I'm the clawsome Chat Noir!"

The akuma froze, then nodded. "Oh, okay… You _do_ look like a _black cat_!" Rocking back on her feet, she seemed to think about this fact. "You're tiny," she finally said.

A gasp from Chat, his hand over his heart. "How rude, mocking a cat's size like that!"

The akuma shifted. "Well I wasn't really mocking you… You're just...really skinny." Rolling her eyes, Ladybug prepared to throw her yo-yo at the akuma, but before she could, the akuma took a step back. "Hey, Chat Noir, could you scoot over like, one inch?" He complied, confusion written all over his face. "Thanks." And then she shot a laser at the base of the building right behind him. It shuddered and started collapsing forward. Chat's eyes widened and he darted forward, attempting to get out of the way.

Of course this was also the building Ladybug was standing on. She stumbled, then threw her yo-yo out across the street desperately as a dust cloud billowed out around her. She hoped Chat was alright...

* * *

L'architecte picked her way through the rubble. "Chat Noir? I didn't kill you did I? That'd be bad…" She stumbled, and looked down to find a black-gloved hand wrapped around her ankle. "Oh good, I was worried there." He glared up at her, one leg pinned by a sizable piece for rubble. "Oh come on Chat, I'm just returning the favor from Papillion."

Chat coughed on the dust that filled the air. "By toppling a building on me? What do you call you? Wrecking Ball?"

"L'architecte actually. Look, Chat, can you just give me your miraculous, I want to sleep."

"Uh, what?" Why was he confused? Didn't he understand that akumas need sleep too?

"I've barely slept for days kid, and Papillion _really_ wants your ring. Like, _really badly_." Chat just stared up at her. "Yeah...I'm just gonna take that now." She crouched, reaching for his miraculous. As her fingers closed around his wrist, she felt a tugging sensation on the side of her face. Suddenly, her glasses flew off her face and onto the ground beside her. She screeched, dropping Chat's hand and scrambling for the lost item.

Before she could grab them, another hand slammed on top of them, shattering the lens. She turned to stare in horror at Chat and his hand, which she had just freed. The akuma fluttered out of the glasses and into the air, just as a yo-yo snapped closed around it.

" _Bye bye, petit papillion!"_ Ladybug's voice called, the heroine emerging from the clearing dust. L'architecte stared dully at the fishing rod in the girl's hands before her vision blanked out.

* * *

Deebee blinked, finding herself sitting on the ground outside a restaurant that she vaguely recalled being close to her dorm building. How she got there however, was a blur. Actually...what time was it? There was something missing, something off, but what? She glanced down and saw her glasses on the ground next to her. Putting them on, she stood, glancing around uncertainly. Something tapped her shoulder and she jumped, spinning on her heel to see who it was.

Oh.

It was the cat kid she'd seen on the news a few times since coming to study in Paris. What was he doing here? He said something, in French of course, so she just shrugged. "I don't speak French uh...Catboy."

Said boy blinked in surprise before smiling. "My name is Chat Noir!" he announced in accented English. His smile faded a bit. "Are you alright?"

Deebee frowned. "Yes? I don't know what I'm doing out here though. I was finishing a project just a few minutes ago. I think." She shrugged. "Sorry, I haven't been here very long, and I know you're like a superhero, but I… Wait, what do you fight again?"

Chat fiddled with his tail belt a bit. "Akumas. Little butterflies that possess you and turn you into a supervillain."

Eyes widening, it clicked in her mind. "So I was…"

"Yeah."

She felt her eyes start watering. Too little sleep, too many emotions. "I'm sorry."

Chat patted her arm. "It's okay, really. It's not something you can help. It's all Papillon's fault for using you like that!" He beamed up at her. "Besides, you shot lasers, which was awesome, but very destructive. You like buildings huh?"

Deebee suddenly realized he'd been leading her out of the road and onto the sidewalk, and she nodded at him. "You could say that."

He chuckled. "You called yourself The Architect."

"Ah… Why are you telling me this?"

"Because it's either hear it from me or see it on the news. Ladybug would've been here too but she had to leave. Do you know how to get to where you live?"

"Yeah. Thank you." Deebee nodded to herself and began walking in the direction she thought her dorm was, but she couldn't help throwing a comment at Chat over her shoulder. "You're a lot smaller than you look on the news!"

He laughed, turning to make his own trek home.


End file.
